Boom Truck Destroys Line of Cars

Mentor, Ohio

A boom truck lifting a large air conditioning unit in Mentor, Ohio yesterday overturned, with the boom coming down on to a row of parked cars.

For some reason the crane appears to have slewed towards the side with the retracted outrigger

The crane, a Terex Stinger 4700, owned and operated by Buckeye Crane & Rigging of Independence, Ohio was contracted to deliver and place the unit by Viking Refrigeration. The operator escaped uninjured and thankfully no one was hurt in the incident.

One of the front outriggers appears to have been fully retracted

The rear outrigger to the back of the lift direction was partially extended

It is clear from the photos that we have received that the cause was due to the front outrigger – to the rear of the lift direction, was either not set or managed to fully retract. The rear outrigger on that side was only partially extended. It looks as though the load was then slewed over the partially extended stabilizer and the crane went over.

The dropped load

Buckeye sent another boom truck to the scene to rescue the fallen crane. In spite of all that happened the rescue crane never bothered to use out outrigger mats and the slinging might have raised a few questions in some quarters, but all was well and the crane was uprighted, liberating the crushed cars to be towed